Tim Cook hints that Apple is ready to open the wallet to buy big companies

During its conference call for the March quarter's disappointing
earnings, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed again that Apple
continues to be on the lookout for companies to buy.

In fact, he suggested that Apple could buy a business larger
than Beats, which Apple bought in 2014 for $3.1 billion.

Cook said (emphasis added):

We're always looking in the market about things that could
complement things that we do today, become features in something
we do, or allow us to accelerate entry into a category we're
excited about. So as I have said before, our test is not on size.
We would definitely buy something larger than we bought
thus far. It's more about the strategic fit and whether
it's great technology and great people. And so we continue to
look, and we stay very active in the M&A market.

Cook went on to say that Apple has bought 15 companies in the
last four quarters.

The key to his comment is that Apple doesn't need revenue or
users because it has plenty of both. So when it buys companies,
it's looking primarily to add technology and the talent to
operate it.

Cook's comment that Apple could buy a company to
"accelerate entry into a category we're excited about" also
suggests that it could purchase automotive-technology
companies as it develops its car.

But as Cook suggested at
Apple's shareholder meeting earlier this year, when it finds
a company it likes, it will gladly buy it no matter its
size — even if it has to spend a good chunk of its $233
billion in cash reserves.

So this means that Apple could conceivably buy a company like
Dropbox, worth $10 billion, as
I argued earlier this month. But the question is whether
Apple sees technology it would like to own.

Apple currently has more than $250 billion in cash and marketable
securities it could use.